Cheetos
"Take a Cheetos break with Cheetos" Cheetos (formerly called Chee-tos until 1998) is a brand of cheese-flavored, puffed cornmeal snack made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initial success of Cheetos was a contributing factor to the merger between The Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company in 1961 to form Frito-Lay. In 1965 Frito-Lay became a subsidiary of The Pepsi-Cola Company, forming PepsiCo, the current owner of the Cheetos brand. In 2010, Cheetos was ranked as the top selling brand of cheese puffs in its primary market of the United States; worldwide the annual retail sales totaled approximately $4 billion. The original Crunchy Cheetos are still in production but the product line has since expanded to include 21 different types of Cheetos in North America alone. As Cheetos are sold in more than 36 countries, the flavor and composition is often varied to match regional taste and cultural preferences—such as Savory American Cream in China, and Strawberry Cheetos in Japan. History Cheetos were invented in the 1940s by Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin, who cooked early test batches in the Frito Company's Dallas, Texas-based research and development kitchen. The cheese-flavored snack sold quickly, but Doolin did not have the production or distribution capacity to support a nationwide launch. This led Doolin to partner with potato chip businessman Herman W. Lay for marketing and distribution, and Cheetos were introduced nationally in the U.S. in 1948 along with a potato product called Fritatos. The success of Cheetos prompted Doolin and Lay to merge their two companies in 1961, forming Frito-Lay Inc. At the time, Cheetos was one of four large snack food brands produced by the company, which had annual revenues of $127 million. Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi-Cola Company to form PepsiCo in 1965, prompting further distribution of Cheetos outside of North America. While Cheetos was the first snack food of its kind, competing products in the snack food category have since emerged—including Utz Cheese Curls, Herr's Cheese Curls and Wise Cheez Doodles. Most of the competing cheese-flavored snacks are distributed in specific regions of the U.S., and as of 2010 Cheetos remains as the top-selling cheese puff in America. As of 2011, Cheetos are produced, marketed and distributed under three different PepsiCo operating divisions: PepsiCo Americas Foods (which includes Frito-Lay in the United States and Canada, Sabritas in Mexico and Latin Americas Foods in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru.), PepsiCo Europe and PepsiCo Asia, Middle East & Africa. In 2010, worldwide annual sales of Cheetos totaled approximately $4 billion, making it the 11th-largest PepsiCo brand. List of Cheetos variations Current Variations: *Crunchy Cheetos (1948) *Cheetos Puffs (1971) *Flamin' Hot Cheetos (1992) *Flamin' Hot Cheetos Puffs (1999) *Flamin' Hot Cheetos con Limon (2002) *Cheetos Twists (2002) *Baked Cheetos (2004) *Flamin' Hot Baked Cheetos (2006) *Cheddar Jalapeño Cheetos (2007) *Xxtra Flamin' Hot Cheetos (2008) *Salsa con Queso Cheetos (2012) *Honey BBQ Cheetos Puffs (2012) *Cheetos Mix Ups Salsa Mix (2013) *Cheetos Mix Ups Xtra Cheesy Mix (2013) *Crunchy Cheetos Tapatío (2013) *Pepsi-flavored Cheetos (2013 - Japan Only) Discontinued Variations: *Cheetos Paws (1990-1993) *Cheetos Cheesey Checkers (1995-1998) *Crunchy Nacho Cheetos (1996-1997) *Cheetos Zig-Zags (1998-2002) *Cheetos X's and O's (1999-2000) *Cheetos Pizza Puffs (2001-2006) *Cheetos Super Flamin Hot (2013) *Cheetos Xxtra Flamin' Hot (2013-2014) *Cheetos Xxtra Cheezy (2014–present) *Cheetos Xxtra Xxtra Flamin' Hot (2013–present) *Cheetos Salsa Con Queso (Crunchy) (2000 (present) - 2008) External Links *Official Website (United States) *Official Website (Mexico) *Official Website (Brazil) *Official Website (Australia) *Official Website (Korea) *Official Website (India) *Official Website (Russia) *List of Cheetos Flavors in North America Category:Sponsors Category:Star Wars Category:M.U.G.E.N Category:M.U.G.E.N: Ultimate All-Stars Wiki